Some Top Tips from the choreographer herself!
Soft, feminine strengh
As dance becomes more technically difficult girls have to learn how to keep the strength of the demanding movements whilst remaining graceful. The female variations have been created to draw this out of them.
"I find that now the technical attributes of female dancers are so incredible," she explains, "but sometimes at the expense of femininity. So for the girls I’ve tried to make things that are very witty and feminine – the épaulement and use of the eyes which are essential, however tough the stuff you are doing underneath."
A noble dance
Young men must learn from an early stage that even when walking on stage they must adopt a masculine stance, be able to give the same quality of masculinity or punchy energy they have when walking on stage as they would give a double tour en l’air. The male variations are designed to encourage that.
"I like boys who are real big butch boys, so I try to create a broad canvass for them to work from, moves that allow them to demonstrate their strength, that will make them feel noble and powerful."
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Gillian Lynne Interview
Choreographer Gillian Lynne will be working withus again this year and candidates will perform her especially created variations at heats across the UK. We sent our editor David Jays to speak with Gillian Lynne about her involvement in the competition and why she thiks some teenagers give up ballet....
DJ: Why were you so keen to be involved in this competition?
GL: ‘Because it’s for the children, it’s for the future. Like everyone else I am worried about the fallout of commitment that happens to children between the age of nine and 15 in this computer age. They’re all excited about dancing up till then, but there are so many other distractions. For a dancer not to be totally committed at that stage is crucial, because your body is forming and you want it to form up the way a dancer’s body has to be, not like an ordinary person’s body.’
DJ: Isn’t talent everything?
GL: ‘Apart from talent, commitment is the only thing that really matters, because it’s a hard world. In the world of dance you have to learn quickly that you can’t achieve artistry and joy, or anything, without this body being an incredible working machine. And there are no short cuts – there are in other worlds, but not in this world. The younger you get that in your system, the easier it is.’
DJ: So, why a ballet competition, you seem to have left classical ballet behind you?
GL: ‘Everything I’ve done, even laced all the way through Cats, has a strong classical basis. Without it, I believe, you can only go so far as a dancer.’
DJ: So can you still spot classically trained hopefuls at auditions?
GL: ‘Do I ever! Even just recently, with Chitty, I threw out a lot of people who were quite delicious to look at, but there was nothing classical in there. If you haven’t had that technique, you won’t have the line. I look for it all the time.’
DJ: So what qualities are you looking for in the Fonteyn Nureyev Young Dancers competition?
GL: ‘ I were to judge, I would be looking for line, a strong body, musicality – but more than anything I would look for flair and instinct… Over and above all of that I would be looking for soul. To be a true dancer you’ve got to have the soul of a dancer. It means there’s something happening when you hear the music that makes you become another person – you become enlightened, you share your soul.’
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